After the dust had cleared and the fighting had stopped, the three Brotherhood soldiers that had engaged Simon looked at each other, all unsure of exactly what had just happened, but completely sure of one thing: the Paladin wasn't going to like this. As they milled about Sanctuary, rounding up the residents that had wisely surrendered and the ones that were defeated, each of them tried to describe in their heads how they could break the news to Paladin Skye. Even in their mental scenarios, none of them were pleasant outcomes. Skye was a hell of a commander and a dedicated Paladin, but had a self-described "allergy to failure". This being the case, Skye was in for a hell of an allergic reaction.
"Knights! Fall in!" came Skye's call. Immediately all the remaining Knights fell in at the meeting point, which happened to be outside a wood and steel "meeting-house", which was actually just Sanctuary's community hall. Of the total eleven knights, only Squads Beta and Gamma filed back in. Squad Alpha remained, guarding the civilians that had surrendered, now locked in one of the houses. Four Knights had died in the skirmish. One was the rookie that Simon killed. Two had fallen victim trying to clear the armory, which some smarter civilians had wisely holed up in. Sadly, their firepower wasn't enough to save them once a few more soldiers rushed the place. The fourth was killed when an injured citizen with more courage than most of the people he was fighting took a live grenade thrown by the soldier and hurled it back at him. The other seven had survived, but some were licking wounds. The fact that four had died to these barely trained civilians had dealt a blow to morale.
"Squad Beta. You ran cleanup. Give me a status report." The squad hesitantly exchanged looks between them, and then back at Skye. Eventually, the most experienced Knight, ie. the de facto leader, stepped forth.
"Paladin. Reported 13 casualties. 6 fatalities. Four Brotherhood, two civilians. Perimeter is secure, but we need to wait until the rest show up to properly guard it."
Skye digested this information silently for a moment, then spoke in a voice just above a whisper. "Tell me about these four fatalities of ours." The squad conferred again, and then the leader spoke again.
"Two from Squad Alpha, one from Squad Beta, one from Squad Gamma. One Alpha died from a rethrown grenade. Another was shot four times by a very high-powered rifle. The other two died trying to capture the armory. Those civilians are bolder than we gave them credit for. We, uh, have their tags, sir." Skye accepted them wordlessly and then raised a question.
"Tell me more about this high-powered rifle," Skye said. Another member of Squad Beta stepped up.
"Well, the rookie from Alpha was the one that got killed, sir. We followed the path from the body to the direction of the gunfire and found spent casings. Looks like .50 caliber. Whoever it was obviously wasn't present at the start. We would've obviously noticed if he was packing a gun like that." Skye nodded, in thought. "Oh! I should also mention that we examined the rookie's rifle. It looks like his cartridge was empty. Even if he fired, nothing would have come out. It's likely that's why he died - he didn't have a weapon in his own defense or to cover a retreat."
Over near the prisoners, the head of Squad Alpha lost all colour in his face. Luckily, no one else could see it, as his helmet was still on. He had been fighting next to the rookie when he died. He had identified him - and discovered exactly why he never got a shot off in his own defense. "Oh God…" he gasped under his breath. One of the other members turned to look at him. "What was that, sir?" The captain could only shake his head and fix his gaze on his rifle sights. His little prank had gotten one of their own killed. His stomach churned and knotted itself into shapes and forms he could not describe. Forcing his eyes back on the prisoners, he began to breathe deeply.
Back at the house, Skye was trying to find out who this mysterious stranger was. "Did anyone happen to identify the man who killed the rookie? Or were you all just standing there with your thumbs up your asses and not doing the one thing you're always supposed to do: protect your people!"
"Sir! Permission to report!" called out one of the soldiers from Alpha, still on prisoner guard. Skye walked towards him. "What are you doing?!" hissed the leader at him under his breath. "We're gonna get triple punishment! Mirelurk duty! In civilian clothes!" Skye stood next to the soldier. "What do you have to report for me, soldier?" The soldier cleared his throat. The captain started to sweat.
The soldier had not been with the Brotherhood long, but had been captivated by the legends of the heroes of the Wastelands, clad in shiny metal armour and protecting the people, just like the ancient Knights he had read about in that book he bought from that trader. The virtues of honour and glory and, of course, brotherhood, were all he ever wanted from life. To protect the people and have a sense of fellowship, some esprit de corps, made him happy. It was the virtue of honesty he channeled now, with his story. " Sir, myself and the captain were fighting with the rookie. I swear to you, we didn't hear the bullets. There was so much commotion going on. We saw the rookie turn around and then we saw the guy fire the fourth bullet, the one that killed him. The captain stayed to see if the rookie was still alive and could be saved. I gave chase, sir. I tried to keep up with him, even fired a few warning shots, but he kept running. A couple other soldiers, I think from Gamma, joined in. We all could kinda see the big gun. One of them got him in the chest, but he was wearing some kind of armour or something, cause he didn't die. Then, sir…" He hesitated, very unsure of whether or not he should say what happened next. What had happened next would get all of them in severe trouble. Skye gestured with his hand that he should finish the story. The soldier gulped. "Then, sir… some more Vertibirds came down. These other soldiers hopped out and started firing at us. The three of us tried to fire back, but we were outmanned and outgunned. They grabbed the guy that we shot and took him into the Vertibirds, and they flew away. Those weren't ours, sir. I don't know whose they were. They looked the same as ours, and they even had power armor. It looked quite different though. It looked more like some big cat than our standard military look." He finished the story and inhaled quite deeply. "That's all sir."
Skye turned from Knight to Knight, eyeing them all. His piercing gaze eventually came to rest on the leader of Squad Alpha. Skye's even steps thundered toward the hapless captain and he stopped dead, inches from his face. "You… hazed… the fucking ROOKIE… during a LIVE FIRE mission!? Are you so dense that you never once stopped to consider, 'Oh hey, maybe HE COULD DIE if he can't fire his damn weapon'!? However much radiation must be melting your brains right now is no excuse!" The captain could offer no words of rebuttal, only weak nodding. Skye turned to the rest of them. "Let this be a lesson to all of you. If you're going to haze someone, don't do it before entering the combat zone! As for you, captain. Ghoul duty and power armor suspension for the next 6 weeks. I'm beyond disgusted with all of you right now." The words hung heavy in everyone's ears and mind, and then were interrupted by Skye's second rant. "Secondly, to you, soldier." Skye pointed at the greenhorn who had recounted the events. "These vertibirds. Were they ours? Their armor you mentioned. You said it looked more like a big cat. Are you absolutely certain you didn't mistake these Vertibirds for our landed ones?"
The young soldier thought for a moment before shaking his head. "No sir, not at all. Their power armor had two pointy bits sticking up like a cat. They weren't round and smooth like our T-60s. Looked more like the experimental model Teagan's got on display back at the Prydwen. As for the Vertibirds, I swear I didn't see the Brotherhood sign. I couldn't really see it that well but it looked like a circle of stars, I want to say."
Skye turned pale. "No… it couldn't be… we beat them. We destroyed them… They can't be back," he said, more to himself than anything. After a moment of two, Skye spoke again. "All of you are dismissed. You are to stay at Sanctuary and assist in reworking the compound for our needs. All of you know your roles, time to perform them. I need to speak to Elder Maxson. Immediately." Without a second word, he started off in the direction of the Vertibirds. All of the other soldiers merely stood in silence before shuffling off to do their respective duties.
The flight to the Prydwen was a clear one for the pilot and a turbulent one for Victor Skye. Skye had several problems on his mind. Four of his soldiers under his command had died in one raid, one of them preventable all thanks to an idiot captain trying to haze the rookie. Sanctuary had been secured, but the one person they really came for had been there, been wounded, and then rescued by the… invaders like the hand of God himself before they could get to him! He forced himself to think about the invaders. "Please, don't let there be an E in that circle of stars…" he said aloud. Skye had been a Paladin for three years, and a Knight for seven. He had been part of the Brotherhood's mad conscription rush when the threat of the Enclave loomed over the Citadel, back in the Capital Wasteland. He had just made Knight when Liberty Prime stormed the Potomac and took back Project Purity. Sure, they had won, but the Enclave weren't done. Skye closed his eyes and allowed the images to pass through his mind. The fearsome Hellfire soldiers outflanking the Brotherhood at the Jefferson Memorial, the soldiers falling by tens to their Tesla cannons. Skye remembered lying on the ground, arms outstretched to a nearby cannon, still clutched by a vanquished Enclave soldier. He remembered his fist closing around the grip, and the aim he took at another soldier engaged in a firefight with his comrades. He saw the soldier, his finger gripped the trigger and he pulled and pulled and he didn't pull the trigger. He couldn't bring himself to risk his life how he was supposed to, and collapsed, still clutching the cannon. Hours later they were saved by that kid from Vault 101 and Sarah Lyons. The fight was over, until not long after the Enclave reared its head yet again, where they were yet again defeated, and this time for good. Skye shook his head. The Institute, the Outcasts, were nothing against the sheer force of will the Enclave presented. In the same way many Commonwealth citizens feared the Institute, so did Skye fear the Enclave. In his heart of hearts, the thought of the Enclave's might and resources made Skye weak with fear. The jolt awoke him from his reverie. They had arrived at the Prydwen.
"And that's the story as the Knight told it, Elder," Skye finished. Maxson digested this information thoughtfully before confirming two points.
"So the man the soldiers took away was the ex-Sentinel, Atwater?" Maxson asked. When Skye nodded, the second thing Maxson asked was "And the Vertibirds had a circle of stars on them? Was there an E in the centre?" Skye shook his head and told him that he did not know about a letter in the centre. Maxson deliberated in his head for a little while and then addressed him. "Thank you for this information, Paladin. I will call a meeting with the Proctors. We must discuss this immediately. Dismissed, Paladin."
Skye turned for the door, and then turned back to Maxson. "Elder?" he asked. "Is it… them? How can they have returned?"
Maxson stared grimly. "I don't want to jump to any conclusions, Paladin. But I would tell you and all members of the Brotherhood to prepare. The Enclave may well be back again."
Miles away, Simon Atwater stirred. The harsh white light glared directly at him, and he shut his eyes. The lights dimmed, and Simon opened his eyes again, staring around a remarkably clean hospital room. Across the room stood a doctor, writing in a chart. "Ah, you're awake! About time, I say." He approached Simon, who sat up. "Take it easy there, no rush, no rush. My name is Horace. Welcome to the Black Site. I'm sure you have many questions."